It’s probably an open secret that the level of English of some of the civil servants in Malaysia is not that great. Remember the language boo-boos that made us so embarrassed? Well, it looks like these mistakes are going to be a thing of the past as Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has some plans that’ll benefit our civil servants.
Source: NST
In a recent press conference on June 6 after the weekly cabinet meeting, he announced that top civil servants must master the English language as it is very important for them. Everyone knows Dr Mahathir’s English is already impeccable!
“The English language is important and must be practised by high level civil servants,” he explained. The Star reported that Dr Mahathir said that high-ranking civil servants need to be fluent in English as they would have important meetings with international figures. It certainly wouldn’t look good if they aren’t able to converse in English properly!
Source: Yahoo SG
How, you ask? Well, their mastery of English would be tested with competency tests to ensure that their level of understanding is sufficient. Even though most of us have been through the conventional education system in Malaysia, there’s quite a number of people who do not have a good command of English. Bahasa Malaysia may be our national language but we are a multilingual country, right?
In addition, Dr Mahathir said that they will find ways to improve Malaysia’s education system. A special task force of non-government experts will soon be set up to investigate ways to improve the system and get inspiration from other countries. The co-curricular education from kindergarten to university level will be reviewed as well.
Hopefully, this initiative would also be applied to the lower-level civil servants. After all, it doesn’t hurt to be able to speak well in another language!
Also read: English Language Will Be the Main Focus in M’sian Education, Says Maszlee
